The cartridge-type punch press freely exchanges the cartridge loaded with tool in the press frame, and by increasing the number of cartridges to be prepared, the number of tools capable of being used increases in a great deal. As a result, various kinds of processing can be carried out.
In the cartridge-type punch press, for the cartridge, there are an upper cartridge loaded with punch tool and a lower cartridge loaded with die tool. These upper and lower cartridges are always made in a pair, and for example, an employment to the working position inside the press frame, or a transfer, a storage into the cartridge magazine can be carried out.
Likewise, since the upper and lower cartridges are always handled in a pair, the punch tool and the die tool to be loaded on these cartridges are required to be employed as a pair in the cartridge. Therefore, even in the case the punch tool and the die tool are capable of being used by being combined to one another, the punch tool and the die tool cannot be combined to the punch tool and the die tool of the cartridge which is not the other half of the pair. As a result, a great number of punch tools and die tools are needed to be prepared, and the equipment expenses are prone to be high.
For example, in the punch processing, the appropriate clearance between the punch tool and the die tool differs according to the sheet thickness or material quality. Therefore, when processing the work sheet of various kinds of sheet thickness or material quality, in the hole processing of the same radius, a pair of the punch tool and the die tool of which the clearance differs a little is prepared, and is used separately according to the object. Such hole processing of the same radius of which the clearance differs, can be carried out by differentiating either one of the punch tool or the die tool, and applying the same tool for the other. However, since the upper and lower cartridges are always handled in a pair, the common use cannot be carried out. Moreover, the same pair of the punch tool and the die tool to be used frequently are prepared in a plurality, and when the life ends, the spare pair is made to be used so that the machine can be kept operating without being stopped, even when the tool reaches the end of the life as a result of abrasion, for example. In this case, even if the difference in the length of the life of the punch tool and the die tool is large, there is a need to prepare a plurality per each pair, and a great number of the tools are needed to be prepared.
Moreover, there is a conventional punch press capable of storing two cartridges in the front and the back of the moving-in and moving-out direction in the press frame to increase the efficiency of the exchanging of the cartridges. The transferring of the cartridges inside the press frame is carried out by connecting two cartridges into a connection body, and transferring the two together.
However, in the transferring of the two cartridges by connecting as described above, the other remaining cartridge cannot be transferred or discharged while the processing is carried out by using one cartridge. Therefore, the storing, the discharging of the cartridges to the press frame, in other words, the exchanging of the cartridges, is inefficient.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a punch press capable of carrying out various processing with a small number of punch tools.
It is another object of the present invention to improve the efficiency of the exchanging of the cartridges.
It is a still further object of the present invention to simplify the structure and to reduce the amount of time required to exchange the cartridges.